Gear Shifters
This page has pictures and comments about some of the common types of shifters that are found on bicycles. The first one is a set of twist grip indexed shifters with a Shimano flight deck display. To change gears, you rotate the twist grip until you hear and feel the click. This causes the chain to move onto the next cog. One side controls the front derailleur and the other side controls the rear.
Twist Grip Shifters with Shimano Flight Deck indicators.
Trigger style indexed shifters.
The image above shows trigger style indexed shifters. These have two levers. Pressing one lever moves the chain one way, and pulling the other, or trigger lever, moves the chain the other way. They also have an indicator system. There is another lever on the other side of the handlebars for the front derailleur. The brake lever is also part of the entire mechanism.
View of Brake and Shifters, or what is known as Brifters.
The image above shows the shifters fitted to a drop style handlebar bike. The brake shifters and gear levers are totally integrated together. The brake lever operates the brake as normal, but moving the brake lever sideways towards the middle of the bike, causes the chain to move up one ring on the relevant derailleur. Pushing the other lever on the side, or trigger lever causes the chain to move the other way. There is no indication system on these type of shifters.
Original old fashioned friction shifters.
Friction shifters contain no indexing, or indication of what gear your are in, but the position of the lever is usually an indication of what gear you are in. One lever for each derailleur. Move the lever one way until you feel the chain move to the new gear, or move it the other way to change gear in the opposite direction. These can be mounted on the downtube, handlebars, or gooseneck on the steering.
